Kim Richards on Her Drunken Meltdown, Recent Arrest: ‘Relapsing Was Very Hard for Me’

“I love sobriety,” former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star says

Entertainment Tonight

Following her departure from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” in June after a high-profile arrest, Kim Richards has opened up about her battle with her sobriety and her shameful showdown with police.

“I love sobriety … I’ve always loved sobriety and relapsing was very hard for me,” the Bravo reality star told Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday. “It was not easy … I really wanted to go to treatment because I needed a break from what I was going through at home,” she added.

Richards went on to detail her latest embarrassing relapse at her daughter Brooke’s wedding.

“I was stressed and everybody was looking at me … the bride and groom and the mom who just got out of treatment,” she said.

During the midst of the celebration, the struggling alcoholic said she “looked on the ground and there were two little margaritas and I think I drank one.”

While discussing the April 16 arrest in which she was charged with three misdemeanors, Richards said: “My arrest was my aha [moment]. I get to go away now and rest and take a break from all of this. I don’t want anybody to take this wrong, but I truly needed a break from hospitals and just family and the pressure. I needed to go away.”

Richards was charged with misdemeanor counts of public intoxication, resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer following her alleged drunken meltdown at the Beverly Hills Hotel in April.

She has since completed a treatment program (marking her fourth stint in rehab) and has been sober for over 30 days, Richards claimed.

“I went in and I got to learn a whole lot about myself,” she told “ET” host Nischelle Turner. “I dug deep into my past, things that happened to me as a child, good and bad, teenage years, relationships with all my loved ones, where they need to be mended, where they’re very powerful. I worked on me.”

As for her relationship with sister, Kyle Richards, she said they’ve “talked a couple of times,” which is more than can be said for her former network.

Richards told “ET” that she hasn’t spoken with producers about coming back to the show because she’s been focusing on her treatment, but claimed they’ve expressed interest in having her back next season. “My representative did speak to them,” she said. “They have asked me to come back.”

The second part of Richards’ in-depth interview on “Entertainment Tonight” airs Thursday.

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